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OMI-SPEC-009: Scholarly Object Model

Status​

Draft

Version: 0.1

Purpose

The Scholarly Object Model defines the fundamental building blocks of the Open Manuscript Initiative (OMI).

Rather than treating a manuscript as formatted text, OMI represents it as a collection of interconnected scholarly objects.

Every meaningful element of a manuscript is represented as a first-class semantic object.

Design Principles

The Scholarly Object Model is based on the following principles:

  • Everything is an object
  • Objects are semantic
  • Objects are uniquely identifiable
  • Objects are reusable
  • Objects are versioned
  • Objects are interoperable
  • Objects are extensible

What Is a Scholarly Object?

A Scholarly Object represents any meaningful entity within scholarly communication.

Examples include:

  • Document
  • Section
  • Paragraph
  • Figure
  • Table
  • Equation
  • Citation
  • Bibliographic Record
  • Annotation
  • Anchor
  • Review
  • Dataset
  • Software
  • Author
  • Affiliation
  • Institution
  • Funding
  • License

All of these are equal citizens within the OMI ecosystem.

Object Hierarchy

Document
│
├── Metadata
├── Sections
│   ├── Paragraphs
│   ├── Figures
│   ├── Tables
│   └── Equations
│
├── Citations
├── Bibliography
├── Annotations
├── Review Layer
└── Discipline Objects

The hierarchy describes containment.

Relationships are defined independently.

Object Identity

Every object receives a globally unique identifier.

Example:

omi:paragraph:9b2d7c31

omi:citation:4f8912ad

omi:anchor:53fd118a

Identifiers remain stable whenever possible.

Object Metadata

Every object contains metadata.

Common fields include:

  • Identifier
  • Object Type
  • Version
  • Created
  • Modified
  • Author
  • Status

Individual object types may define additional metadata.

Object Relationships

Objects are connected through semantic relationships.

Examples:

Paragraph

↓

Anchor

↓

Annotation
Citation

↓

Bibliographic Record
Review Comment

↓

Anchor

↓

Paragraph

Relationships are explicit and machine-readable.

Object Lifecycle

Objects evolve over time.

Typical lifecycle:

Created

↓

Modified

↓

Reviewed

↓

Published

↓

Archived

Lifecycle states may differ between object types.

Object Composition

Objects may contain other objects.

Example:

Section

├── Paragraph

├── Figure

├── Table

└── Citation

Composition creates document structure while preserving object independence.

Object References

Objects may reference one another without containment.

Examples:

  • citation → bibliography
  • figure → dataset
  • review → paragraph
  • author → affiliation
  • dataset → software

These references remain valid across publication formats.

Discipline Objects

Discipline Profiles introduce additional object types.

History:

  • Archive
  • Charter
  • Regest
  • Historical Event

Mathematics:

  • Theorem
  • Lemma
  • Proof

Medicine:

  • Clinical Trial
  • Ethics Approval

Physics:

  • Experiment
  • Physical Constant

Plugins extend the object model without changing the Core.

Object Behaviours

Objects define behaviour in addition to structure.

Examples:

A Citation object may:

  • validate identifiers
  • resolve bibliography entries
  • render different citation styles

An Annotation object may:

  • attach to Anchors
  • store discussions
  • control visibility

Behaviour is defined by object type.

Object Serialization

Every object must support structured serialization.

Future specifications may define mappings to:

  • JSON
  • YAML
  • XML
  • RDF

Serialization preserves semantics rather than presentation.

Object Versioning

Objects participate independently in version control.

Changes to one object do not require recreating the entire manuscript.

This enables efficient collaboration and fine-grained history tracking.

Object Permissions

Different object types may define independent permissions.

Examples:

  • editable
  • read-only
  • reviewer-only
  • editor-only
  • public

Permissions are independent from document layout.

Interoperability

Objects are designed for interoperability.

Mappings may include:

  • JATS XML
  • Web Annotation
  • schema.org
  • Crossref
  • DataCite
  • Dublin Core
  • Linked Open Data

Extensibility

Plugins may introduce:

  • new object types
  • new metadata
  • new behaviours
  • new relationships

The Core Object Model remains stable.

Future Work

Future specifications will define:

  • Object API
  • Object Repository
  • Object Graph
  • Knowledge Graph Integration
  • Semantic Query Language

Summary

The Scholarly Object Model defines the conceptual foundation of OMI.

By representing every meaningful entity as a first-class semantic object with its own identity, metadata, relationships, behaviour, and lifecycle, OMI moves beyond document-centric publishing toward a true scholarly knowledge ecosystem.